


A Furtastic Tale of Adventure and Romance (or how Dean finally found a place to call home)

by dreamedofwings (fabre)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cat Castiel, Cat Dean, Cat Sam, Cat romance, Dean's commitment issues, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, adopted family, cat!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:37:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2573513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabre/pseuds/dreamedofwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The brothers grew up in the streets, watching out for each other and, as far as Dean was concerned, needing nothing else. If Sammy would still occasionally throw longing looks in the direction of a warm home, Dean would try not to notice. They had survived fine on their own for years, traveling from street to street, town to town, without staying at one place for too long. So why would they want to change anything?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The one in which Dean meets 'the one'

**Author's Note:**

> The boys are cats and I regret nothing.

Dean used to live in a house with a lovely family when he was younger, but a house fire took it all away. Dean was only able to carry out his little brother, who was nothing more than a kitten at the time, but his parents and owners were not so lucky.

So the brothers grew up in the streets, watching out for each other and, as far as Dean was concerned, needing nothing else. If Sammy would still occasionally throw longing looks in the direction of a warm home, Dean would try not to notice. They had survived fine on their own for years, traveling from street to street, town to town, without staying at one place for too long. So why would they want to change anything?  
  
Then one day Sammy gets sick, not something life-threatening or dangerous, but he's got a bad enough cold for Dean to decide they need to stick to one place for a bit, while his little brother regains his strength.  
  
Dean's out looking for food for the both of them when he first sees him through a window, a slim, black cat with—are those spots? They look like spots. Dean's never seen a cat like him. His fur looks newly brushed and he's half-turned away from Dean, so it comes as more of a surprise when the other cat finally takes notice of him, turning around to sit in front of his closed window. Now that he's facing him, Dean can see that he was wrong—while his back is black, his front is an intriguing smokey silver. But most distracting of all are his eyes, which are of a richer shade of blue than Dean's cat eyes are accustomed to seeing.  
  
Dean pauses, effectively caught staring as he sits on the fence in front of this stranger's window—he tries to play it cool, quickly averting his eyes and starting to groom himself (suddenly feeling self-conscious about his own boring brown coloring and disheveled fur). He sneaks a glance up and the stranger is still staring at him, but the gaze doesn't feel threatening—especially with how he's kind of tilting his head to the side and looking more curious than annoyed with Dean about the intrusion into his territory.  
  
Unnerved by his own nervousness, Dean breaks away from their staring contest and jumps off to continue his search for food, determined to avoid the strange cat's window in the future.  
  
... Yet every day for the next three days, he finds himself sitting on that fence, waiting for a peek of blue eyes and exotic spots.

On the fourth day, Sam tells him to stop being a wimp about whatever's got his tail in a fuss, and pointedly tells him to go fix it with a very eloquent paw to the face.  
  
So Dean decides enough is enough and actually climbs all the way to his window this time, sitting on the flowerbed right outside. The black cat is curled up on the floor when he gets there, but at the sound of Dean's arrival, his ears perk up and his head quickly follows, and he makes his way to the window gracefully, pressing his nose against the glass in an attempt to greet Dean.  
  
Dean knows it's stupid because the cool, invisible wall is in the way, but he humors the strange cat, pressing his own nose against the spot where their noses would meet. There's a contented rumbling sound and Dean realizes he can hear the cat purring all the way outside.   
  
Castiel, he learns that day. Castiel is his name. Cas because Dean thinks it's too much of a mouthful (Cas' purring only seems to grow louder at the nickname, so he assumes he likes it well enough).  
  
That day, Dean stays until Cas' owner shows up to shoo him away.  
  
For an entire week, Dean's daytime hours are spent on that flowerbed, chatting quietly with Cas, sunbathing together in spite of the window that keeps them apart, paws pressing together from time to time against the cool invisible barrier. Dean suspects Sam has already recovered by now, but he's insisted he still needs to take it slow and Dean isn't in a hurry to leave, so he lets the lie slide (even though he's pretty sure his lying has to do with him following Dean that one time when he thought Dean wouldn't notice).  
  
Then one day, everything changes. Word is out in the street that the hunting humans with their giant car—is that what they call it? Dean thinks he remembers his old owner having loved the things, but he tries not to think of those days—have been circling the spot that Sam and Dean have temporarily claimed as their own, and Dean knows it means they have to move on (he won't let his little brother get hurt—he's heard from other cats what happens if you get caught).  
  
So, with his tail and ears low, he asks Sam to wait around the corner and goes to say goodbye to Cas.  
  
It's just as painful as he thought it would be. Cas isn't saying anything and Dean can't even look at him, his heart clenching in his chest at the thought of never seeing his... friend again. Because that's what they are, right? They're friends. When Dean finally looks up Cas is nowhere to be seen, and he really should have expected that, but it still hurts.  
  
With one last forlorn look over his shoulder, he hops off the flowerbed and he's just about reached the fence that he has to jump to make it outside when he hears it. It's the distinctive sound of scratching and what is clearly distressed meowing and when he turns around, he finally sees that Cas is fighting the latching device on another window, a window Dean had never noticed before, struggling to get outside, to get to Dean. Dean's heart climbs all the way to his throat and he hurries to Cas' side, pressing his head worriedly against the glass, unsure of how to help.  
  
"Cas, stop, you'll get hurt." Cas has stopped meowing now that Dean's there and he actually looks more determined than ever, pushing against whatever's keeping the contraption locked. Now that Dean's paying attention, he can tell it's one of those special doors, not a window at all, like the ones they used to have at his old house, the ones his owners would block at night so they wouldn't go out into the cold and get lost.  
  
That gives him an idea. He closes his eyes and tries to picture it in his head, to bring back memories of what feels like lifetimes ago, "Cas, stop,  _stop_. Go for the thin cold thing. On top of the door." He hears Cas stop and even with his eyes closed, Dean knows he will be listening attentively, "Not with your paws, use your teeth. Like the humans do with their paws. Twist it and push."  
  
There's a moment of silence and then he hears it, along with Cas' annoyed but determined huffs, the sound of the cool thing sliding and giving and  _suddenly the door is bursting open—_ right against his face, "Damn it, Cas!" Dean gives an indignant yowl, but suddenly there's a furry weight toppling him over and a warm but rough tongue licking all over his face excitedly, and well, Dean doesn't really have it in him to stay angry.

He huffs and pushes Cas' face away with his paws, claws carefully tucked away, "What are you, a dog?" He's being difficult but he doesn't care, because Cas is out here with him and his heartbeat is so loud he can hear it in his ears and he doesn't know what it means, "If you wanted to lick me goodbye, you could have just asked."  
  
Cas, in true Cas fashion, doesn't bother moving off him, content to stare confusedly down at Dean, head tilted in question, "I am coming with you."  
  
Dean's heart aches in the best way, but he fights to bury the feeling. "You don't mean that." He shakes his head in disbelief, unable to look up at Cas, "Cas, you got a good thing going on here. You've got a house and a human and a warm place to sleep and—"   
  
He's stopped by a lick just under his nose. Dean's pretty sure he's blushing underneath all his fur (and he has the sudden, embarrassing urge to start self-consciously grooming himself on the spot). Cas doesn't seem to mind as he stares determinedly down at him, "I'm coming with you. That is not up for discussion." He leans down to press their noses together, "Okay?"  
  
Cas' eyes are even bluer up close. Dean can't look away and his voice comes out strangled. "Okay."  
  
When Cas finally lets him up, he's doing his thing again, purring as loud as a car, sounding pleased with himself.   
  
Dean would normally complain, but he's too happy to do it right now.  
  
 _Cas is coming with them._

Before they jump over the fence to go get Sam, Dean tentatively bumps their heads together and is rewarded with a brush of Cas' tail against his.  
  
They're gonna be okay.  
  
***  
  
A couple of months later, in another town, a redheaded woman notices them in her neighborhood and starts bringing them treats every day after work.  
  
Dean's hesitant to trust her at first, but Sam talks some sense into him and Cas nudges their heads together encouragingly, and... okay, fine, maybe Dean can give her a chance.  
  
They move in with Charlie and her partner Gilda, and it's not exactly the same as when Dean was a kitten, but it's theirs.  
  
And with Sam safe (and currently flirting awkwardly with the cat next door, Jess) and Cas curled up by his side, well... Dean can't really complain.  
  
It's home.


	2. The one in which Dean finally notices the obvious

Dean doesn't realize he and Cas are a thing for a very, very long time.   
  
In fact, he only notices when Sam points it out to him.  
  
"Dean," his brother starts, floppy hair ruffled as he stares at Dean in disbelief, his voice betraying his exasperation (and Dean really doesn't appreciate the use of that tone—seriously, no one respects him around here), "He didn't speak to you for a week after you sniffed Lisa that one time. He would hit you in the face with his tail every single time you so much as tried to lie down next to him."  
  
"I thought he was just being weird," Dean grumbles, body low to the ground, his feet tucked under him defensively, "You know how Cas is."  
  
"I do know how Cas is," Sam replies matter-of-factly, "I also know he doesn't curl up next to me every night or groom me for hours like it's his only mission in life."   
  
"He's just obsessive about being clean," Dean retorts, though he's starting to admit to himself Sam might have a point.  
  
Sam doesn't look convinced, "He greets you by exposing his belly. And lets you lie down on it. While purring. Loudly."  
  
... Damn it.  _He and Cas are a thing_.  
  
"Oh, shut up."  
  
By this point Sam is looking super smug, so Dean makes sure to hit him with his tail right in his stupid face when he turns to walk away in a huff.   
  
(Sam's indignant yelp doesn't make him any less right, but it makes Dean feel a little better.)  
  
He goes to find Cas—it's time for his grooming session anyway.


	3. The one in which Dean's family grows

When Dean comes home after his walk one day, Sam is pacing in front of the door that leads to the kitchen, his long tail twisting back and forth in obvious distress.  
  
Dean's instantly on high alert, looking around for whatever threat might be lurking around the corner, "Sammy? What's up?"  
  
Sam stops pacing to watch him approach, "Dean, it's Cas." The words steal all the air from Dean's tiny lungs, "He..."  
  
He doesn't let him finish. Before Sam can draw another breath, Dean's ran into the kitchen, ears pulled back and fangs showing, ready to defend his mate from whatever threat has managed to find its way into their home.  
  
So, needless to say, when he finds Cas lying on his side, wrapped protectively around a tiny kitten and contentedly grooming the tiny ball of gray fur—well, he's a little confused, "... Cas?"   
  
"Hello, Dean." Cas pauses for a moment to greet him, sounding way happier than Dean has ever heard him.  
  
"Um," Now that Dean's initial  _THREAT FAMILY MUST PROTECT_  drive has faded, he's just kind of unsure on how to proceed. He approaches his mate cautiously, "Cas, what's going on?"  
  
Cas has gone back to his grooming by now, and the kitten doesn't seem entirely happy about it, but his tiny paws are helpless against Cas' determination (Dean should know), so he seems mostly resigned, "I went out today and saw his human abandon him by the side of the road." Or not. The kitten seems to notice Cas' distraction and makes a bid for freedom, but Cas simply grabs him by the scruff of his neck and the little fur ball is helpless to resist—he stops struggling, "So I brought him home."  
  
God, of course he did.  
  
"Cas," Dean starts in his best  _I'm trying to humor you so you won't make me sleep in the laundry room by myself again for a week_ , "we've talked about this. Remember the guinea pig you wanted to bring with us before we met our humans? It wasn't safe. We're not equipped to raise a baby."  
  
Cas doesn't look too happy with the reminder, his tail thumping angrily against the ground once, twice—telling Dean he's treading on thin ice here, "It's different this time. We have a home." He rubs his face against the top of the kitten's head, probably to further mark him with his scent (the kitten's only complaint is a tiny annoyed mewl), "We have plenty of food and our humans are good to us." He pauses there, thoughtful, and then seems to decide his previous job has been lacking, because he goes right back to grooming the kitten—who seems for the most part to have decided to just make the best of it, getting comfortable against Cas and letting him do his thing, "We could be good parents."  
  
Dean almost chokes out a hairball, "W-We what?"  
  
Cas' eyes narrow suspiciously in that intense way only he manages to pull off, his tail bristling slightly where it's still thumping against the ground—the thumps have slowed down in their frequency, but Dean isn't fooled, he knows that can be even worse for him sometimes, "Unless you don't want to."  
  
"No. Wait. I mean, I don't know!" Dean's pacing now, staring now at the tiny bit of responsibility lying between Cas' paws, "I just... me and Sam, we lived out in the streets all our lives, Cas. I'm not wired for it."  
  
There's a bump against his side, and the gigantic form of his brother nudges him gently. Dean didn't even hear him approach. His voice is soft, encouraging, "You raised me out there and I came out just fine."

"But..."  
  
Cas stares between the brothers quietly, his ears dropping slightly but his head held high as he holds the kitten closer, "It's alright, Dean. I can look after him by myself if you don't want to." He seems less happy than before, but Dean can tell he's being honest. Cas would never lie to Dean—it's one of the things Dean loves about him. The kitten looks up at Cas then, almost as if he knows he's being discussed, and this time when Cas leans down to brush their noses together, he doesn't complain. Cas seems pleasantly surprised and some of that earlier happy glow returns to his face.  
  
Dean feels something tug at his chest at the image.  
  
... He kind of wants to be part of it.  
  
Breathing in shakily at the revelation, he glances at Sam and finds his brother looking at him with a knowing look on his face. He really knows Dean too well.  
  
Dean clears his throat and returns his gaze to Cas, who's watching him while doing that stupidly adorable head tilt thing he does—and that's it, damn it, Dean is lost.  
  
"... Fine. We can keep him. But we still gotta see how our humans will react, Cas. They might not let us keep him."  
  
Cas is practically vibrating with excitement, "I wonder what they will name him."  
  
Dean sighs.  
  
***  
  
That evening, Gilda is the one who finds Dean and Cas lying side by side (nothing unusual there), curled up protectively around the little gray kitten ("Wait, wha...? Charlie! Did you bring in another stray?!").  
  
Dean's (a little) worried at first, but all it takes is for Charlie to widen her eyes imploringly at her mate while murmuring things he doesn't understand, and they're all good.  
  
That night, Kevin officially joins their family.  
  
***  
  
(Later, when Dean asks Sam why he was freaking out so much earlier if he was so happy to accept Kevin into the family, Sam gives him a smug look and replies he wondered if Dean would finally be able to get over the last of his commitment issues.   
  
So when Charlie leaves the bathroom to look for something, having just filled up the tub and put in something that smells kind of funky to Dean's sensitive nose, Dean lures him in there and pushes him into the funky-smelling water while he's distracted.  
  
By the time Charlie comes back, alarmed by the loud cry of one very wet cat, Dean's already fled the scene of the crime.  
  
He hides under Cas for the rest of the night—he knows his brother wouldn't dare try anything while Kevin is with them.  
  
"Dean."  
  
"What? I knew he could swim.")


	4. The one in which Cas plays dirty

Dean comes home one day to find Cas relaxing on his back, with Kevin asleep on his tummy, curled up next to...  
  
"Cas," Dean's voice is full of disbelief (though he really should know better by now), "is that a guinea pig?"  
  
"Shush, Dean, you'll wake the babies."  
  
Later, they have a very long and serious talk about adopting strays, an argument that Dean is absolutely determined to win -- but which ends when Cas starts rubbing his face against Dean's and purring in that way Dean loves, and curling their tails together, until Dean can't even remember what they were arguing about in the first place.  
  
(Admittedly, Charlie's a little worried about the guinea pig's safety when she first notices the new addition to the family, but after watching the way Cas curls protectively around her and starts pointedly grooming her when Charlie tries to 'rescue' her, well... She figures the little girl will be just fine.)  
  
And so Krissy joins their growing family.  
  
(Charlie really doesn't know how she's going to explain this one to Gilda.)


End file.
